The reaction pattern of norbornene with excited state carbonyl compounds: Photochemical preparations of norbornene derivatives

We established that acetylacetone and acetone photolytically sensitize norbornene to undergo an efficient radical addition of solvent (ranging from hexane, cyclic ethers, haloalkanes, acetone, alcohols and acetonitrile) across the double bond. In view of its synthetic applicability, sensitized photoreactions of norbornene were reviewed and their mechanisms were compared. Photolysis of acetylacetone in the presence of norbornene in hexane induced i) acetylacetone to cycloadd to norbornene giving the expected 1,5-diketone, and ii) sensitization by triplet excited acetylacetone to generate reactive norbornene, which underwent dimerization as well as the addition of a solvent molecule by radical chain processes. In other solvents, the radical chain addition of solvent dominated the photoreaction, and superseded the cycloaddition, to give excellent to good yields of adducts to norbornene. While the excited species of acetylacetone for the sensitization was deduced to be its spectroscopic triplet excited state, that for the cycloaddition should involve a different one which may be a twisted triplet acetylacetone; sensitization experiments showed that the cycloaddition did not occur from the spectroscopic triplet state. Triplet excited acetone sensitized norbornene to undergo the same solvent addition more efficiently and cleanly than acetylacetone did. In view of various conflicts existing in the proposed energy transfer mechanism, the sensitized norbornene reactions were rationalized with electron transfer and a cation radical chain mechanism.     

The Assessment of Reservation Prices of an Intermediate R&D Result and Patent Reward Under Oligopolistic Competitive Behaviour

One of the shortcomings of R&D evaluation is a lack of emphasis on analytical assessment of the value of an on-going R&D project. This paper addresses the problem concerning the distributive aspect of access to superior knowledge. Decision tree analysis and probability models appear to be appropriate tools for assessing the values of an intermediate result and patent reward of a firm's R&D decision in an environment of perfect information and oligopolistic competition. The assessed values are used as minimum prices acceptable to the firm when the knowledge is disseminated to the public. This paper will attempt to resolve this problem through the determination of the appropriate values of the reservation price of the first-stage invention in terms of the final reward and of a patent reward for which the inventor is willing to apply.     

Efficient synthesis of an aldehyde‐capped polythiophene containing fluorinated electron‐withdrawing groups

To incorporate an acceptor type polythiophene segment onto a supramolecular block copolymer for potential light harvesting applications, effective synthetic routes for the end‐functionalized and acceptor‐substituted polythiophenes are critical. The Ullmann coupling reaction can be utilized to obtain electron‐deficient polythiophenes and to attach terminal thiophene units that carry functional groups. In this article, the reactions involving a 2,5‐dibromothiophene monomer containing an electron‐withdrawing fluorinated ester and 5‐bromo‐2‐thiophenecarboxaldehyde (the end‐capper) were studied in detail. It was found that the Ullmann coupling reaction of the dibromide is very fast (completed in a few minutes) and the terminal bromine group does not survive long under the reaction condition. These findings lead to the development of an effective procedure for aldehyde end‐capping of electron‐deficient polythiophenes. Polymers with molecular weights around 4000 Da are routinely obtained. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 45: 41–47, 2007     

Transverse Effects in Slow Light Propagation

The effect of finite control beam on the transverse spatial profile of the slow light propagation in an electromagnetically induced transparency medium is studied. From the second-order wave equation and linear response of an EIT medium to the signal field, we find it is possible to produce an effective waveguide for the signal field. The existence and properties of a set of localized, stationary transverse modes are demonstrated. Especially, by carefully manipulating the profile of the control beam, we can realize single-mode propagation for the signal field, which may be important for potential applications.     

Acoustic characterization and prediction for fan-duct-plenum-room integrations

This paper investigates mutual influence of duct and room acoustics in the whole fan-duct-plenum-room integrations. Applying the parametric design language of finite element software ANSYS (APDL), dimensional and positional influence on system acoustics has been studied. Models with different room dimensions, duct lengths, duct cross-sections, duct locations, duct discharges and duct elbow were constructed, and their characteristics were compared qualitatively. Results show that small rooms, short ducts, large duct cross-sections and bell mouth duct discharges help to increase room sound pressure levels (SPLs); SPLs in ducts and plenums are sensitive to duct dimensions and duct discharge types but insensitive to duct locations and room dimensions; duct elbows have relatively indistinct acoustic influence in each component. Based on the calculation results, a semi-experimental method was proposed for simply and approximately evaluating indoor acoustic spectra of fan-duct-plenum-room integrations, then an example was used to demonstrate the prediction process. Finally, by adopting several ideal models, sound field constitutions, duct and room wall admittances and duct end reflection were explored quantitatively. This study may give a detailed understanding of fan-duct-plenum-room acoustics for researchers, also it might provide a new, simple and approximate prediction method for professionals to evaluate and improve fan-ducted acoustics.     

Implementation of a Nonzero-order Joint Transform Correlator Using Interferometric Technique

The implementation of a nonzero-order joint transform correlator using the double port Mach-Zehnder interferometric technique is proposed and demonstrated. This approach provides on-line processing for directly removing the zero-order components of a joint power spectrum in one step and performs the nonzero-order optical correlation. Experimental results are presented and discussed.     

Comparison of the boundary theory with the contact rule of phase regions and Gupta’s method

The phase boundary theory and the contact rule of phase regions are compared, and some weaknesses of the latter are manifested. The comparison between the Gupta’s method and the boundary theory method for constructing multicomponent isobaric sections is also presented.     

Biphotonic recording effect of polarization gratings based on dye-doped liquid crystal films

This study investigates a holographic recording effect of biphotonic polarization gratings (BPGs) written on dye-doped liquid crystal (DDLC) films. One linearly polarized green light (λ_G = 514.5 nm) and a polarization-modulated interference pattern formed by two mutually coherent orthogonal (±45° with respect to the polarization of the green light) polarized red lights simultaneously excite the DDLC films to generate a BPG. The formation of BPGs depends primarily on the dichroism of the dye molecules and a sequence of mechanisms: photoisomerization, anisotropic adsorption and inhibition of dye adsorption. The cis-isomer absorbance-modulated distribution associated with the red polarization-modulation pattern induces the dye adsorption-modulated pattern, in turn, yielding the permanent BPG which generates a modulated twisted nematic (TN) structure pattern in the sample. It is found that each BPG is verified to be electrically switchable and thermally erasable. The switching time is in the order of milliseconds. Additionally, the recording time to form a BPG decreases with increasing intensity of the green pump beam.     

System dependence of the correlation function of IMFs in Ar + Sn at 35 MeV/u

The inclusive reduced velocity correlation functions of the intermediate mass fragments were measured in the reactions of ³⁶Ar + ^112,124Sn at 35 MeV/u. The anti-correlation is observed to be stronger in ³⁶Ar + ¹²⁴Sn system than that in ³⁶Ar + ¹¹²Sn. The difference of the correlation functions between the two reactions is mainly contributed by the particle pairs with high momenta. A three body Coulomb repulsive trajectory model is employed to calculate the emission time scale of the IMFs for the two systems. The time scale is 150 fm/c in ³⁶Ar + ¹¹²Sn and 120 fm/c in the ³⁶Ar + ¹²⁴Sn, respectively.